Head of Operations - Applied AI

About Faculty

Faculty transforms organisational performance through safe, impactful and human-led AI. 

We are Europe’s leading applied AI company, and saw its potential a decade ago - long before the current hype cycle. 

We founded in 2014 with our Fellowship programme, training academics to become commercial data scientists. 

Today, we provide over 300 global customers with industry-leading software, and bespoke AI consultancy for retail, healthcare, energy, and governmental organisations, as well as our award winning Fellowship. 

Our expertise and safety credentials are such that OpenAI asked us to be their first technical partner, helping customers deploy cutting-edge generative AI safely. 

Our high-impact work has saved lives through forecasting NHS demand during covid, produced green energy by routing boats towards the wind, slashed marketing spend by predicting customer spending habits, and kept children safe online. 

AI is an epoch-defining technology. We want people to join us who can help our customers reap its enormous benefits safely.

About the role

As Head of Applied AI Operations, you will be part of the leadership team of the Applied AI business, and play a key role in helping us scale successfully and sustainably.

The Applied AI team is already ~270 staff and growing over 50% year-on-year, likely to reach 1,000+ people in the next five years. As such, we will need to mature our operations, systems and processes as we move from scale-up to large organisation, whilst crucially not losing our highly personable and empowered culture which is so important to our success.

As Head of Applied AI Operations, you will lead this change. You will be responsible for the core operations that ensure the smooth running of the Applied AI business - across areas like governance, resourcing and staffing, data reporting, internal communications, knowledge management. And you will lead the change and improvement programme to evolve the Applied AI business as we scale.

This is an outstanding opportunity to play a key part in scaling a significant UK tech company.

What you'll be doing

The role will report to the Commercial Managing Director of the Applied AI business, and involve:

• Leading the Applied AI Operations team, currently 8 people and expected to grow in line with the continued growth of the Applied AI business
• Being part of the leadership team of the Applied AI business, helping to set overall direction and working daily with the Commercial Managing Director, Technical Managing Director, and Faculty’s Chief Commercial Officer
• Overseeing the core operational functions of the Applied AI business, including Staffing and Resource Planning, Data Quality/Governance, Client Project Mobilisation/Closedown; and Customer/Client Satisfaction
• Running the overall change programme for Applied AI, helping to prioritise and ensure progress against over 100 different elements that will help us mature as we scale - across areas like training and career development; knowledge management; client account management; and commercial efficiency. You will lead some of these yourself or deliver them through your direct team, as well as upwards and sideways manage others to drive progress and ensure execution across the wider Applied AI leadership.
• Leading key aspects of staff wellbeing, including overseeing internal communications and pastoral oversight via the Team Experience Coordinators in your team
• Leading on the development of key Applied AI policies and representing Applied AI interests in the development of cross-Faculty policies, including close working with Faculty’s Chief People Officer, Head of People Operations, Legal Director, and Security Director
• Overseeing the core governance processes within Applied AI, including the various leadership and core governance meetings which drive key decision-making and alignment
• Direct line management of four staff

Faculty is well suited to self-starters, and beyond these core responsibilities, as a growing firm, we will actively encourage the successful candidate to find wider opportunities to pursue their interests and add additional value, and will create space in the role to enable this. For example, this could include:

• Opportunities to represent Faculty in external speaking engagements at panel events, conferences or with media
• Opportunities to play a policy advocacy role, e.g. on areas like AI regulation or how AI can be used to transform public services
• Opportunities to get directly involved in client-facing delivery, e.g. playing an expert advisory role on projects where you may have domain expertise

Who we are looking for

At Faculty, your attitude and behaviour are just as important as your skills and experience. We look for individuals who can support our values, foster our culture, and are passionate about what they do.

We like people who combine expertise and ambition with optimism -- who are interested in changing the world for the better -- and have the drive and focus to make it happen. If you’re the right candidate for us, you probably:

• Love finding new ways to solve old problems - when it comes to your work and professional development, you don’t believe in ‘good enough’. You always seek new ways to solve old challenges.
• Think scientifically, even if you’re not a scientist - you test assumptions, seek evidence and are always looking for opportunities to improve the way we do things.
• Are pragmatic and outcome-focused - you know how to balance the big picture with the little details and know a great idea is useless if it can’t be executed in the real world.

For the Head of Applied AI Operations, we are looking for someone with the following:

• Team leadership, particularly of high-performing teams. You know how to stretch and develop your team, how to empower and work through others, and when to be close to something and when to give space.
• Execution and Delivery. You are grippy and action-oriented, and take pride in executing consistently and leading teams who do so. You’re able to execute across multiple priorities in a complex stakeholder landscape. You do not let uncertainty and lack of process be a blocker, and can drive actions and decisions at all levels and are willing to get into the details to drive outcomes. You have a problem-focused, solutions-oriented approach to how you work.
• Changing and programme management. You have experience running programmes and overseeing complex change, with strong programme and project management skills (NB this does not require formal PPM qualifications/methodologies).
• Judgement and decision making. You make good decisions aligned to leadership priorities and what is in the best interest of the business. 
• Communication skills. You communicate clearly and concisely both in writing and in person - and can vary your communication style depending on the situation.
• Influencing and persuading skills. You can inspire others and bring people with you - including C-Suite (or equivalent) and other key stakeholders, your team, your peers, and wider delivery teams.
• Critical and logical thinking skills. You are someone who can consider a problem from multiple angles and find ways of turning the complex into the simple. You can create policies and solutions which are nuanced to the context and alive to potential trade-offs or pitfalls.

• Process implementation and improvement. You implement streamlined and effective processes. You intuitively spot where process is blocking progress and do something about it.
• Strategic planning. You have excellent strategic thinking skills, and an ability to partner with other leaders to facilitate wider strategic planning.

• Analytical skills. You will be comfortable working with and understanding our core commercial and operational data - and build a good intuitive sense of what matters and what drives our commercial outcomes.
• Commercial acumen. You understand or can quickly pick up the commercial aspects of the business (business development, marketing, legal, finance), and can partner with commercial leaders in planning and execution
• Empathy and cultural savvy. You care passionately about people and building an environment where people can thrive. You understand how to deliver change in a way that fits the culture of an organisation and brings people with you.
• Self starter. You do not wait to act, but rather proactively find opportunities for improvements.

We encourage you to apply if you think that you meet most, but not all, of the requirements.